Global Economic History Econ 342 - Global Economic History J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 1 / 27
Course Details The basics: Office: 254 Morton Hall Email: jmparman@wm.edu (expect response in under 24 hours) Phone: 757-221-2852 (email is probably easier) Office hours: Monday 11am-noon, Tue 1pm-3pm, Wed 11am-noon J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 2 / 27
Course Website We will have a course website on blackboard.wm.edu Right now you can find the syllabus, these lecture slides, past exams and two folders for readings on the website (all under ’Course Files’) Lecture slides will typically be posted half an hour before lecture J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 3 / 27
Course Prerequisites Students should have completed Econ 101 and Econ 102. These courses provide students with a basic understanding of economic concepts that will serve as the foundation for the material in this course. I will assume a basic economic vocabulary. J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 4 / 27
Readings There is no required textbook for the course. Readings, both required and non-required, are posted on Blackboard. I will maintain a reading list on Blackboard noting which readings are required. I will update you at the start of each lecture on where we are in the course outline and which readings you should do for the next classes. J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 5 / 27
Grading Final grades will be based on two referee reports (20% each), an empirical project (20%), a midterm (20%) and a final (20%). The overall course grades will be curved to be consistent with the typical William & Mary grade distribution. Students will have one week after graded material is first returned to raise any issues about grading. After that the recorded grades are final. There are no makeup exams or options to take an exam at an alternate time. If the midterm is missed for any reason the final exam will be used to impute a grade for the midterm. J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 6 / 27
Referee Reports You will complete two referee reports, due February 15th and March 29th at 5pm. The referee reports are a chance to engage critically with the assigned journal articles. You will summarize the main points of the article and then discuss its strengths and weaknesses. We’ll go over all of the details in lecture. J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 7 / 27
Empirical Project The empirical project will be due April 14th by 5pm. The project will involve finding different types of empirical evidence ranging from standard economic data to evidence from historical literary works. The goal is to create a cohesive argument about changes in economic activity over time on the basis of that evidence. A second goal is to fulfill the spirit of the COLL 200 designation for the class. We will go over details in the last lecture before our midterm. J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 8 / 27
Schedule Key dates for the semester: February 15: first referee report due at 5pm March 1: midterm March 29: second referee report due at 5pm April 14: empirical project due at 5pm May 1, 2pm-3:30pm: final exam Note that the final exam will be an hour and a half long. J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 9 / 27
The Position of Economic History in Academia From Moya-Anegon, et al “Visualizing the marrow of science.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 58, No. 14 (2007) J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 10 / 27
The Position of Economic History in Academia From Moya-Anegon, et al “Visualizing the marrow of science.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 58, No. 14 (2007) J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 11 / 27
The Rise of Cliometrics J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 12 / 27
The Rise of Cliometrics “The finest historians will not be those who succumb to the dehumanizing methods of social sciences, whatever their uses and values, which I hasten to acknowledge. Nor will the historian worship at the shrine of...QUANTIFICATION.” – Carl Bridenbaugh, president of the American Historical Society, 1962 J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 13 / 27
The Rise of Cliometrics What do economic historians hope to contribute to history? Utilize economic modeling to interpret historical phenomena Bring an economist’s sense of quantification to historical data Employ statistical methods to systematically and rigorously test hypothesis Combine these tools to extrapolate from history, expand the applicability of history J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 14 / 27
Using Economics to Study History Photograph of Robert Fogel, retrieved from http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel prizes/economics/laureates/1993/fogel.html J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 15 / 27
The Rise of Cliometrics What do economic historians hope to contribute to economics? Historical events as tests of hypotheses Historical data as a source of compelling stylized facts A wealth of comparative analysis possibilities (with much larger heterogeneity than modern data) Context for decision making The relevance of social norms and other institutions The evolution of those institutions J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 16 / 27
The Rise of Cliometrics Photograph of Douglass North, retrieved from http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel prizes/economics/laureates/1993/north.html J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 17 / 27
So What is Good Economic History? Having a well-defined question Defining variables and the general problem operationally Being clear about what data are available, what they can measure and what they can’t measure Being explicit about assumptions Deriving testable statements Carefully interpreting results Considering the proper counterfactual Not forgetting that ‘history matters’ J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 18 / 27
What We’re Actually Going to Study J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 19 / 27
What We’re Actually Going to Study J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 20 / 27
The Pre-Industrial Economy J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 21 / 27
The Pre-Industrial Economy J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 22 / 27
The Industrial Revolution J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 23 / 27
The Why and Where of the Industrial Revolution Country areas weighted by GDP, 1 AD J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 24 / 27
The Why and Where of the Industrial Revolution Country areas weighted by GDP, 1900 AD J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 25 / 27
The Mixed Benefits of Industrialization J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 26 / 27
The Mixed Benefits of Industrialization J. Parman (College of William & Mary) Global Economic History, Spring 2017 January 18, 2017 27 / 27
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